Chapter 2: Duo
-A day after the last chapter-
In the dorms, Tor slowly woke up to get ready for school, only to realize that something wasn't right with his bed.
Namely the fact that Julie was in it.
'WHAT IN THE VOID?!' He yelled mentally as he sat up quickly. The Tenno then looked at the bottom bunk just to make sure he was on the top one. "Why is she in my bed?!" He groaned.
The girl yawned as she sat up and stretched. Seemingly not even phased by the fact that she was in the same bed as her partner.
"Good morning, Tor." Julie yawned.
"Julie, why are you in my bed?" The brown haired child soldier sighed.
"You're very easy to sleep next to. It helps me fall asleep better." The girl explained. This somewhat reminded Tor of a young girl talking to an older sibling.
"Please don't make a habit of it." The boy sighed, opting to not think about it.
(Later)
The two were at the dining hall for breakfast, and had already gotten their food. They just had to find a good place to sit.
"Hey Tor, let's sit here." The silver haired girl suggested, pointing at a table next to them.
"Yeah, that looks pretty good." He nodded before they sat down. "Please bless this food." He hummed.
"Please bless this food." Julie parroted as she copied his actions. As they ate, two girls approached them, one being a ravenette and the other being a brunette. Both wore the uniform of the school.
"Hey, mind if we sit here?" The ravenette asked.
"No, not at all." Tor replied, allowing them to take seats across from them.
"Thanks." Tamari nodded as the two sat down across from the two roommates. The four then remained in silence for a few minutes before Tachibana decided to break it by clearing her throat.
"I should get to the point of why we're here." She began. "It's because of your Co-ed rooming situation. That kind of setup is a recipe for rumors to happen." She stated.
"Well I'm not that weirded out. I used to share a room with my little sister before…" Tor said before trailing off and clearing his throat. "Point is, nothing has happened." He told them.
"Plus he's great to sleep with." Julie added, causing the two girls to look shocked while Tor just groaned in exasperation.
"I KNEW IT! YOU'RE A–" Tachibana started to cry before a fork flew by her face, causing her to freeze.
"What did I just say?!" Tor questioned firmly after throwing his fork past her, his tone not unlike a soldier addressing a subordinate, something that made the girls across from him gulp. "The way she said it was that of a little sister talking about an elder sibling. There is nothing rated R happening! Got it?!" He growled.
"Y-Yes sir!" The two girls yelped in unison as their backs went straight.
"Thank you!" He sighed angrily. 'The nerve of some people, letting their minds go into the gutter…' He added mentally.
"So, have you two decided on if you wanted to stay as a duo, or if you think you want to choose a different partner?" Tachibana questioned, moving onto another topic.
"We aren't sure yet." Julie shrugged.
"I was thinking about asking Tora, but… I dunno. Swapping partners just seems more trouble than it's worth right now." Tor nodded. "So, assuming things go well, we may just stick together." He added with a shrug.
"Oh. Well that's good to hear." Tamari nodded.
"That reminds me." Tachibana noted. "Tor, you said that your Lukifer and blaze isn't like others that are in the academy. What did you mean by that?" She asked.
"I have a variety of different weapons and armors, the latter of which have abilities unique to them. I call these armors 'Warframes'." The boy explained, much to their disbelief.
"You're kidding! How many could you even have?!" Tamari gaped with wide eyes.
"Thirty?! Fifty?!" Tachibana added with equally wide eyes.
"Yes." Tor chuckled, his vague and witty reply making the two girls pout.
(Later)
Later on, the students were all sparring with each other to see how they had improved, and Tor was in the process of doing so by fighting Tora with the flail mace of Harrow Prime.
"Urg! Not bad. Still good with that one, I see." The bespectacled boy remarked with a smirk as he recovered from a blow.
"I know." Tor nodded as the two clashed again while the students looked on in amazement.
"You see what I'm seeing?" One student asked his sparring partner.
"Yeah. It looks like some kind of combat priest." Said partner nodded.
Tor then closed his eyes as he then swung his mace on himself to activate Penance, and then rushed at Tora again. The boy dodged a few swings from the mace and managed to land two blows on him, but ended up taking a blow to the ribs which made him jump back, clutching the area that was hit.
"Repent." The brunette smirked as he swung his mace like a pendulum.
"And if I don't?" Tora shot back. The response he got was a wave of energy that hit him and left him restrained by chains coming from the ground. "Oh come on!" He exclaimed indignantly.
"That." The Tenno stated, activating Condemned.
"Wow, he wasn't kidding. Abilities like that are amazing." Tachibana commented, the ravenette standing next to Julie.
Whipping his weapon, Tor sent Tora flipping around and toppling to the ground. He then dispelled his weapon, dusting his hands off.
"Game, set, match." He declared with his hands behind his back, Harrow Prime's appearance making him look like an actual priest.
"Yeah, yeah." The bespectacled teen sighed with a roll of his eyes.
(A week later)
"So Julie." Tor idled as they stood out on their dorm's balcony.
"Yes Tor?" She asked.
"Have… you decided if you still want to be my Duo?" He questioned, looking at her.
"... Yes. I do want to be your Duo." The girl replied with a small smile, which the Tenno returned.
"Glad to hear it. Partner." He said, holding out his fist for a fist bump, which Julie actually returned.
(About a weekend later)
The next week in class began and the duos were all now sitting in their permanent seating. And needless to say, it seemed like no one really seemed to mind about who was with who. Though a few students were whispering about Tor and Julie being together, which irritated the Tenno.
"I can hear you, you know!" He barked at the students talking about him, causing them to clam up.
"Alright students, listen up!" Tsukimi called from her desk. "This week we'll be doing our first battle trial to see who's ready to level up their Lukifers." She continued. "This little team free for all is called a Nugladeous and it'll be held this Friday. So you better get ready."
Tor and Julie glanced at each other, and came to a conclusion: It was training time. The rest of the fighters wouldn't know what hit them when they were done.
(Later)
Tor and Julie were now in the woods doing some combat training. The Tenno had decided to use various weapons and Warframes of different skill sets in order to prepare Julie for the Nugladeous, the objective of the exercise being to simulate all different manners of opponents confronting the silver haired girl.
Right now, the Norse themed girl stood alone in the clearing, listening for the slightest noise. In the trees, Tor was using Ash Prime's ninja-like skills to test his partner's ability to find opponents well versed in stealth. She'd already experienced the frontline assault of Rhino Prime, the tactical versatility of Vauban Prime and the dimensional power of Limbo Prime.
She still didn't know what to do or think about that last one…
"Blaze On." She intoned as she summoned her weapons to deflect several throwing knives that came her way from the trees–and then spun on her heels to block a sword strike to flip Ash Prime over and into the bushes again.
However, this block and counter streak was then stopped when Tor used Ash Prime's Teleport skill to appear behind and jump on top of her, pinning the girl down.
"Impressive counter, but you need to be more on alert for an attack from behind." The boy lectured as he got off of her.
"I figured." Julie replied as she got up. "What's next?" She asked.
"Nothing right now." The boy sighed as he dispelled his Warframe and stretched. "I'm honestly getting tired right now." He sighed.
"Me too, actually." Julie yawned as she dismissed her Blaze.
"Come on, then. Let's go." Tor beckoned as he started heading back to their dorm, the girl following suit.
Soon it would be time for them to have the fight of their lives, literally and figuratively.
Dragon Emperor0: Well, that's another of the backed up stories off the list. Guess that leaves five more.
ThermalsniperN7: Yep. And before anyone asks (and in case we didn't clarify): Yes, all of Tor's Warframes and weapons will be Primes with some exceptions (like the Vandal, Wraith and Prisma weapons). This is mostly so we can maintain a specific theme for his arsenal.
Dragon Emperor0: Additionally, we should clarify that in this story it will be slightly longer than the original anime for two reasons: 1. So we can space out chapters and events to allow things to breathe and give Warframes a time to shine. And 2. Dedicate specific chapters to Tor adding a particular girl to his harem.
ThermalsniperN7: Right. We need time for that, and the anime doesn't give it. Plus, we wanna give the other Warframes Tor has in his arsenal their time to shine.
Dragon Emperor0: Additionally there's a really big plot point during the finale of the Anime's first run that kinda hinges on the harem romance drama. So my new format is basically my way of helping have that still happen, but work it to where it's less contrived and more a situation of circumstances and in character manipulations and reactions. In essence–something far less cringy than in the show.
ThermalsniperN7: Hopefully we can make it work. Anyway, see you next time.